A Morrocan Jewish woman seeking to finalize a divorce (gett) from her estranged husband finds herself effectively put on trial by her country’s religious marriage laws, in this powerhouse courtroom drama from sibling directors Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz. In Israel, there is neither civil marriage nor civil divorce; only Orthodox rabbis can legalize a union or its dissolution, which is only possible with the husband’s full consent. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Viviane Amsalem has been applying for a divorce for three years but her religiously devout husband Elisha continually refuses. His cold intransigence, Viviane’s determination to fight for her freedom, and the ambiguous role of the rabbinical judges shape a procedure where tragedy vies with absurdity and everything is brought out into the open for judgment.
Part of Ronit Elkabetz A”H tribute.
Ronit is the first ASF Pomegranate Award recipient where she was awarded for a Lifetime Achievement for Acting & Directing.
Shlomi Elkabetz
Shlomi Elkabetz is a ground-breaking Moroccan Screenwriter, Director, Producer, and Actor, who has made extraordinary contributions to Israeli and world cinema. In 2004, he co-wrote and co-directed To Take a Wife with his sister, actress Ronit Elkabetz, the first ASF Pomegranate Award recipient (2011). The film was awarded the Critics’ Prize and Audience Prize at the Venice Film Festival. They continued working together on the trilogy that also includes The Seven Days (2008) and Gett: The Trial of Vivan Amsalem (2014), which was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best International Film. Elkabetz made his acting debut in the HBO TV mini-series Our Boys (2019), as one of the leading roles. Ronit starred in all his films, including Cahiers Noirs [Black Notebooks] (2021), her final film before she tragically passed away. The film premiered at Cannes as an Official Selection and won an Ophir Award for Best Documentary. Elkabetz’s past recognitions include the Israel Ministry of Culture’s prestigious Landau Award and Variety’s Directors to Watch Award.
Ronit Elkabetz
Ronit Elkabetz’s screen presence grips audiences the world over. Recognized for her work with three Ophir Awards and a further four nominations as well as the French Culture Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Moroccan-born actress and director works in both Israeli and French cinema. Her latest movie, Gett: the Trial of Viviane Amsalem, has been widely acclaimed.